Los Angeles Department of Transportation
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Los Angeles Department of Transportation, commonly referred to as LADOT, is an agency created by Los Angeles City Ordinance, and is governed by a citizen commission. The LADOT is best known for providing public transportation to the City of Los Angeles. It currently operates the second largest fleet in Los Angeles County next to LACMTA. It consist of over 300 vehicles, serving nearly 30 million passengers a year and operating over 800,000 hours.
LADOT also develops the traffic signal timing and transportation planning for the city. Actual road maintenance, construction, and operation is provided by the Los Angeles City Department of Public Works. The LADOT performs many different transportation related duties:
This Department is responsible for the development of plans to meet the ground transportation needs of the traveling public and commerce; it has centralized authority over the conceptual planning and operation of the City’s streets and highways system; and it provides a primary interface with the other government agencies on transportation matters. The Department studies traffic problems; analyzes the effect of new development on parking and highway needs; designs, installs and maintains traffic signs, signals, parking meters, street name signs, line striping and other transportation control devices; develops and operates bus transit programs for the general public and the elderly and disabled; coordinates the development of off-street parking; enforces parking regulations; administers the City’s Administrative Adjudication Program for parking citation appeals; collects parking violation revenues; collects parking meter revenue; provides for intersection control; provides crossing guard services at public and parochial schools; provides public utility regulation through investigation of services and rates of the privately owned public utilities, such as taxicabs, ambulances and sightseeing vehicles; and prepares and enforces provisions of franchises. - From pg. 36 "Your Government at a Glance, Facts About the City of Los Angeles" 2006 Edition by Frank T. Martinez, Los Angeles City Clerk.
LADOT is one of the few transportation agencies to have a song sung about it. L.A. Dot, with music by Randy Rogel, tells the story of the Animaniacs character Dot as she watches buses go by with her name. [1]
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[edit] Current LADOT transit services
[edit] DASH
DASH (Downtown Area Short Hop) currently operates over 30 routes covering Downtown Los Angeles and many outlying communities within the City. Its primary function is to provide localized service and is a feeder into the countywide MTA Metro service.
DASH Community Routes include:
- Beachwood Canyon
- Boyle Heights/East LA
- Chesterfield Square
- Crenshaw
- Downtown L.A.:A, B, C, D, DD, E, F
- El Sereno/City Terrace
- Fairfax
- Highland Park/Eagle Rock
- Hollywood
- Hollywood/West Hollywood
- Hollywood/Wilshire
- King-East
- Leimart/Slauson
- Lincoln Heights/Chinatown
- Los Feliz
- Midtown
- Northridge
- Panorama City/Van Nuys
- Pico Union/Echo Park (the Echo Park Avenue segment is the successor to the Pacific Electric Railway's Echo Park Avenue Line)
- San Pedro
- Southeast/Pueblo del Rio
- Van Nuys/Studio City
- Vermont/Main
- Warner Center (connects with the Metro Orange Line)
- Watts
- Wilmington
- Wilshire Center/Koreatown
Most DASH buses are El Dorado EZ-Rider vehicles powered by clean propane fuel. The first two digits of DASH bus numbers denote which year the bus came into service. For instance, 98001 denotes 1998 and 06001 denotes 2006. All DASH buses are 30 feet long, making it easier for dense neighborhoods where there are narrower streets and tighter turns.
The current fare for DASH remains $0.25.
[edit] Commuter Express
Commuter Express is an express bus service, consisting of 16 routes, all but one running during rush hours only. Most routes were former Metro lines that were cancelled. Fares are based on a flat rate for travel on streets plus an extra charge based on the distance traveled on freeways. Routes include:
- 142: San Pedro-Long Beach via Seventh Street/Ocean Boulevard (daily service). This route is denoted on bus destination signs as a Community Connection route.
- 409: Sylmar-Downtown Los Angeles via Foothill Boulevard
- 413: Burbank-Downtown Los Angeles via Sherman Way/Victory Boulevard
- 419: Chatsworth-Downtown Los Angeles via Devonshire Street
- 422: Thousand Oaks-Downtown Los Angeles via Thousand Oaks Boulevard/Warner Center
- 423: Newbury Park-Downtown Los Angeles
- 430: Pacific Palisades-Downtown Los Angeles via Sunset Boulevard
- 431: Westwood-Downtown Los Angeles via Beverly Glen Boulevard/Wilshire Boulevard
- 437: Venice-Downtown Los Angeles via Culver Boulevard
- 438: Redondo Beach-Downtown Los Angeles via Highland Avenue
- 448: Rancho Palos Verdes-Downtown Los Angeles via Pacific Coast Highway/Hawthorne Boulevard
- 534: Westwood/Century City-Downtown Los Angeles via Olympic Boulevard (reverse peak service)
- 549: Encino-Pasadena via Burbank Boulevard
- 573: Mission Hills-Century City via Balboa Boulevard
- 574: Sylmar-El Segundo via Balboa Boulevard
- 575: Simi Valley-Warner Center
In addition, LADOT operates the Metrolink Shuttle route with Commuter Express buses on weekdays. This service connects Union Station with Bunker Hill during morning and evening rush hours and is timed to meet Metrolink trains at Union Station.
Commuter Express services are provided by a variety of suburban vehicles, including Gillig Phantoms, Neoplan Metroliners, and Stewart & Stevenson Apollo T-40s.
[edit] CityRide
CityRide is a program for individuals in the City of Los Angeles, aged 65 or older and for qualified disabled persons.
